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Matthew Mench

Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering, UTK

Biography

Matthew Mench received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Penn State University in 2000 as a recipient of a NASA Graduate Student Research Fellowship. After two years as a Research Associate, he began as a tenure track Assistant Professor at the Penn State University in 2002, where he founded and Directed the Fuel Cell Dynamics and Diagnostics Laboratory (FCDDL). Dr. Mench was granted early Tenure at Penn State in 2007. In the summer of 2010, he moved the FCDDL to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and accepted an endowed position as the Condra Chair of Excellence in Energy Storage and Conversion and Professor of Mechanical Engineering with a joint appointment at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Dr. Mench works primarily out of the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering, but also has been granted an appointment as Professor of Chemical Engineering.

Dr. Mench’s research team at the FCDDL investigates multiphase transport in electrochemical power and conversion devices including polymer and microbial fuel cells, electrochemical sensors and flow batteries. The FCDDL performs both experimental and computational studies, and regularly works with industrial partners to understand and optimize performance and durability in these systems though fundamental study. The FCDDL performs externally funded research supported by various industrial and government sources including major automotive companies, fuel cell material suppliers, the Department of Energy, and the National Science Foundation (NSF). In 2007, Dr. Mench received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Early Career Development Award. In 2006 and 2009, Dr. Mench was awarded Penn State Engineering Society Outstanding and Premier Teacher awards, respectively, for his development of an advanced undergraduate and graduate fuel cell curriculum that he now teaches at the University of Tennessee. Dr. Mench is the author of the textbook, Fuel Cell Engines, published in 2008 by John Wiley and Sons, Inc., which is now adopted by educators around the world. Dr. Mench has published over 100 refereed articles and is regularly invited to give talks to industry and academia and perform consulting. Dr. Mench serves as the Vice President for Development of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy (IAHE), and has established an international network of student chapters. He is also an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, a leading journal in the Energy Field with a 2009 Impact Factor of 3.95.